‘Watch Her Try to Marry an Astronaut’: Gayle King Wants to Date Younger Men as Marriage Becomes Her Top Priority Following Flight to Space

Gayle King may be seriously eyeing a second chance at everlasting love. The “CBS Mornings” co-host appears to be feeling unstoppable after overcoming her fears of orbiting 66 miles above the Earth’s surface in the epic Blue Origin space flight on April 14.

Now, it seems as though her next big feat may be going from Miss to Mrs for a second time.

The veteran journalist, 70, was among those who attended the 2025 TIME 100 Gala on April 24 in New York City. When she spoke with People at the event, King joked the next experience on her bucket list is “getting married” before she playfully quipped, “No, piercing my ears.”

Gayle King says she is focused on getting married after successful Blue Origin space flight. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

A critic commented, “How callous can you be putting ‘getting married’ on a bucket list? Love is supposed to be sacred and spontaneous, not something you put on your To Do List. Ridiculous!”

On Reddit, a second person joked, “Watch her try to marry an astronaut so they can talk about space together.”

A third noted, “She’s been married before. Aren’t bucketlists for things you’ve never done?
Good luck to her.” Someone else added, “She looks really good for her age. On topic, it’s always good to have bucket list. I’m not sure I would qualify marriage as one, but, at least Gayle has one to work towards.”

The news personality has candidly spoken about her eventful attempts at dating in recent years. When she appeared on “The Pivot Podcast” in 2024, she revealed that she once loaned a date $4,000 to cover a child support payment and furniture expenses. The romance fizzled out soon after.

That same year, she appeared on “The Tamron Hall Show” and outlined some parameters for her next beau. “Definitely younger… I don’t want to date somebody I could’ve given birth to,” King told Hall.

As for the age, she said, “I would like for it to start with a five, and I don’t want it to be a nurse or a purse. I don’t want that.”

Amid the crowd’s roar of applause and laughter, King clarified that her list of requirements “is not really about money, guys. It’s about somebody who has their own business, their own thing. They’re very confident in their own skin.”

Despite speculation that she had a “mystery man” in her life last summer, the three-time Emmy Award winner has not confirmed her relationship status.

King was previously married to attorney William Bumpus for 11 years when they divorced in 1993. She has long boasted about catching him in bed with a woman she once considered her friend. The former couple are parents to adult children, William Bumpus Jr. and daughter Kirby Bumpus. 

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